Free Republic

WASHINGTON ? Its front entrance now touts President Bush's education policy, but the Education Department headquarters will one day honor Lyndon Baines Johnson and his work to improve U.S. schools. Bush signed legislation Friday naming the agency's offices after the follow Texan, with 17 members of the Johnson family looking on. Johnson's children, Luci Baines Johnson and Lynda Bird Johnson Robb and their spouses, their children and grandchildren gathered at the Oval Office for the signing that was not open to reporters. First lady Laura Bush also attended. Lady Bird Johnson, the former first lady, was unable to attend but...

WASHINGTON—Federal Election Commission (FEC) Chairman Ellen Weintraub’s renewed feud with President Donald Trump over voter fraud allegations from the 2016 election has the ranking House Committee on Administration Republican asking some pointed questions about excessive partisanship within the regulatory panel. “Recently, I believe this tone of partisanship has been amplified by some at the Commission,” Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) said in a letter to the FEC’s leadership made public Tuesday. “Partisan attacks only serve to undermine your work and the work of the entire Commission staff,” Davis said. He was writing on behalf of the three Republicans on the Administration...

In late March, audio recordings from a 1977 interview detailing how the late President Lyndon Johnson won the 1948 Senate contest in Texas were posted to the archival website of the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. The tapes renewed interest in the sordid episode that saved Johnson’s political career — and threw some light on how American elections have been, and can be, stolen. In 1977, James Mangan, a reporter for the Associated Press, conducted a series of interviews that touched on the allegations of the 1948 steal. After Mangan...

I’m sure you’ve heard people saying this before. Perhaps you’ve even said it yourself. ‘Those Democrats stole the election.’ And in this case, you’d be correct, but it’s probably not the election you’re thinking about. The Associated Press has an interesting walk down memory lane this week discovered in a set of tapes that were donated to the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum last summer. On the tapes, a former South Texas election judge told a reporter that the 1948 Texas Senate primary election was stolen in favor of LBJ and he described exactly how it was done....

ALICE, Tex., July 30—A former Texas ivoting official, seeking “peace of mind,” says he certified enough fictitious ballots to steal an election 29 years ago and launch Lyndon Johnson on the path that led to the Presidency. The disclosure was made by Luis Salas, who was the election judge for Jim Wells County's Box 13, which produced just enough votes in the 1948 Texas Democratic primary runoff to give Mr. Johnson the party's nomination for the United States Senate, dun tantamount to elec ion. “Johnson did not win that election—it was stolen for him and I know exactly how it...

On September 2, 1948, Lyndon Baines Johnson ran in the Democrat primary for the U.S. Senate against Democrat Texas Governor Coke Stevenson. Governor Coke Stevenson was more popular and would have won, but there were notorious ballot irregularities to steal the election. Mysteriously, a box of uncounted ballots was “discovered” in the south Texas town of Alice in Jim Wells County, Precinct 13. Confusion reigned in Texas and by the end of the week, LBJ won by 87 votes. Both sides accused the other of voter fraud. The FBI, Postal Department and other agencies were investigated. Piecing together the details,...

A viral hoax showing a supposedly cleaned-out library as a result of a new Florida law banning explicit material in schools has resulted in a teacher being fired.Brian Covey, who was a substitute teacher for Duval County Public Schools (Jacksonville area), was told his services would no longer be needed after he posted a video making it seem as if the Mandarin Middle School library had been emptied out. When questioned about the situation at the time, Gov. Ron DeSantis denounced it as a fake narrative, noting that nothing in the law required any school to take any such action.Apparently,...

Florida man, 37 attempted to enter the Ruth N. Upson Elementary School in Jacksonville carrying a large axe and ended up getting shot. At around 2:48 p.m. the suspect approached the entrance to the school armed with a large axe and the school staff followed procedure and did what they were supposed to do. The school was put into lockdown, the Duval County Schools Police Department was notified, and the school staff kept the man from entering the school. A school safety officer stayed on campus but kept an eye on the suspect as he left the school. Bruce Perkins...

Nick Howland (REP) 51.87% 68,210 Tracye A. Polson (DEM) 48.13% 63,285 ------- This is a 12 point swing from 2018 results. Gillum, Nelson and Biden each won Duval County as well.

A man in Florida was sentenced on Wednesday for fatally shooting down a Jacksonville police K-9 named Fang as he attempted to escape arrest two years ago. Jhamel Malik Paskel, 19, received a 25-year sentence in Duval County Circuit Court after being tried as an adult after being arrested at 17 on six charges including the shooting of the dog, armed carjacking and kidnapping. He received five years for the dog's death and a 20-year sentence for the other charges, according to News4Jax. The teen's defense attorney had previously asked for leniency for Paskel as he faced up to 35...

Several attorneys in Jacksonville, Florida, teamed up to file a lawsuit to stop the Republican National Convention from taking place there in August. The lawsuit, filed in Duval County, makes several arguments as to why the city should not host the Republican National Convention as Florida’s coronavirus case numbers rise. The suit said the convention would be “a nuisance injurious to the health [and] welfare” of the community.

<p>ACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s governor on Friday gave the green light for some beaches and parks to reopen if it can be done safely after being closed because of the coronavirus.</p> <p>Gov. Ron DeSantis’ announcement came as north Florida beaches became among the first to allow allow beach-goers to return since the virus-induced closures.</p>

On Saturday, six Trump campaign volunteers in Jacksonville, Florida were working to register voters. At approximately 2:45 p.m., a golden-colored van attempted intentionally ran through their booths with the intention of mauling volunteers. Thankfully, no one was injured. After driving through the tent, knocking over tables and chairs, the man stopped, took a video and flipped the Republican volunteers off. The driver sped off but was later apprehended. Police arrested 27-year-old Gregory William Loel Timm. He was "charged with two counts of aggravated assault on a person over 65 years old, criminal mischief and driving without a license," News Jax 4 reported. Lt....

Black activists aren’t satisfied with Florida Democratic National Committee (DNC) member John Parker’s explanation that he meant to say “people of color” but used the expression “colored people” instead. They want him to resign. Parker told Politico that he was trying to say “people of color” but didn’t get it right. Parker’s own wife has joined the chorus of African-Americans and Democratic officials who say the DNC committeeman from Duval County, Florida, needs to step aside. Parker made the remarks on Jan. 22 while speaking at a party meeting in Jacksonville and apologized after the initial uproar from those present...

Construction of two of the three sections of the multi-lane First Coast Expressway running through Clay County and neighboring Northeast Florida communities is behind schedule, according to Florida Department of Transportation officials, who cited a variety of factors for the delays. The expressway is a limited access toll facility is touted by elected officials and economic development authorities in Clay as being a gateway to new residential and commercial economic growth, which translates into an increased tax base. When completed, the expressway will span 46.5 miles. It be a connecting road outside of the existing Interstate 295 Loop between Interstate...

Sex offender charged with murdering eight-year-old Florida girl less than ONE HOUR after mom let him take her to McDonald’s after befriending family at dollar store [complete headline] Charish Perriwinkle, 8, was out with her mom and two siblings on a late night Friday shopping trip Florida sex offender, Donald Smith, 56, spoke with family and offered to take the girl for a burger Smith abducted Charish and a police search began within minutes of her disappearance Child's body was found at local church early Saturday morning Smith is now back in custody, caught by police as he was fleeing...

SAN DIEGO, Texas - A reserve deputy driving home from work swerved violently off the road and overturned his car after his headlights revealed the battered bodies of three men on a dark South Texas road. The incident happened about 1 a.m. Tuesday as Duval County reserve deputy Alonzo Zamora was driving along Farm-to-Market Road 1329. Sheriff's Sgt. David Canales says Zamora suffered only bumps and bruises in the crash. Canales says the men were a 30-year-old from El Salvador, a 23-year-old from the Dominican Republic and a 23-year-old from Mexico. Each suffered head injuries, and the Salvadoran also had...

An e-mail clearly sent by an employee of the Duval County School District takes aim at the tea party movement and its members, blatantly calling them racists -- accusations that have left local members of the movement angry and disappointed. Cynthia Jones-Humphrey, technical manager in the department of Community and Family Engagement, sent the e-mail, titled "Why We Must Vote!" from her school account on Monday morning. The e-mail encourages people to vote a straight Democratic ticket because, "The Republican Party has been hi-jacked by dangerous, radical hate mongers called the 'Tea party.'" The e-mail goes on: "These people hate...

The death of William F. Buckley Jr. last week brought several calls with reminders of his connection to South Texas. His grandfather, John Buckley, came to Duval County in 1874 from Ontario, Canada. He was involved in raising sheep. Back then, South Texas was sheep country. John Buckley, the patriarch of the family, ran for sheriff of Duval County as a Democrat in 1888. He lost to Republican L.L. Wright. Buckley sued for fraud, claiming that forces loyal to Wright failed to count votes from precincts favoring Buckley. He also charged that Wright brought in illegal voters from Nueces and...

A twice-convicted rapist facing life in prison remained at large Thursday after dashing through an unlocked door at the Jim Hogg County Sheriff's Office late Tuesday night. Abel Morin, 24, of San Diego, Texas, who was sentenced to five concurrent life terms in prison on Monday, has not been spotted since he escaped shortly before midnight in Hebbronville while being moved between cells. Morin was being held in Hebbronville as part of a problem prisoner exchange agreement between Jim Hogg and Duval counties. He escaped hours after being returned to Hebbronville by Duval County deputies. "My officers took him and...